Monday Morning MIL: Kamehameha Maui clinches another state tournament berth in girls volleyball, league semifinals set for tonight

Archer Fabrao wasn’t sure immediately after the match that her Kamehameha Schools Maui volleyball team had clinched a berth in the New City Nissan/HHSAA state tournament with a sweep of King Kekaulike on Tuesday at Na Ali‘i’s gym.

That was simply because Fabrao, a 5-foot-8 senior outside hitter, was laser focused on a bigger prize: the Maui Interscholastic League championship. 

Fabrao will participate in her fourth state tournament that runs Oct. 27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 after the Warriors did indeed clinch their 21st consecutive state tournament appearance with a 25-12, 25-20, 26-24 win over King Kekaulike on Tuesday. 

The Kamehameha Schools Maui girls volleyball team has been to every Division I state tournament since the program started in 2003 with sophomores and freshmen only on the varsity team, one of the most remarkable streaks of success for any single team in Maui Interscholastic League history.

According to Kamehameha Maui sports historian Kevin O’Brien, the Warriors girls volleyball team is the most successful program in school history. They have won 11 MIL championships, but none since 2017. Their streak of 10 straight MIL championships from 2004-2013 included current head coach Sienna Davis as a player from 2009-12. 

“The girls set goals at the beginning of the season and one of them was to be MIL champs,” Davis said after sweeping Na Ali‘i on Tuesday. “We’re not done yet, but this was a big game for us coming off of the loss in the second round (to King Kekaulike).”

Davis added, “It means so much to the program now and the history of the program … We won for so many years and then we didn’t for a good amount of years. So, to bring it back home and … to always be playing for somebody bigger than themselves is important.”

Davis said that this team plays for “their families or their loved ones, but most importantly, Pauahi.” 

Pauahi is the Hawaiian princess whose will established the Kamehameha Schools upon her death on Oct. 16, 1884. “I think that’s what makes all the difference. And, of course, all of the players and coaches who came before us,” Davis said. “So, it’s history. Feels good.”

The Warriors’ streak of 10 straight league volleyball championships is second only to Lahainaluna’s streak of 19 straight basketball championships from 2005-2024 in any sport in MIL girls Division I play since the turn of the century.

The MIL gets two spots to the state girls volleyball tournaments at the Division I level, but Fabrao and fellow senior Hi’ilei Alo want to take their team to the state tournament as a league champion for the first time in eight years. The Warriors have been MIL runners-up in girls volleyball in 2003, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. There was no season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While they are assured of being in the state tournament by virtue of their MIL regular-season championship that came with an 11-1 record, the Warriors need to win the league tournament that starts tonight with semifinals or a championship game on Wednesday. That event is set for the Izumi “Shine” Matsui Athletic Center on the Maui High School campus.

Top-seeded Kamehameha Maui faces No. 4 Maui High at 5 p.m. tonight and the other semifinal is No. 2 King Kekaulike against No. 3 Baldwin at 7 p.m. The winners meet in the tournament final at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The Sabers eliminated fifth-seeded Lahainaluna from the MIL tournament on Saturday.

If any team besides Kamehameha Maui wins the MIL tournament, an overall championship game will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday between Kamehameha Maui and the tournament winner. 

A Wednesday match could also be necessary for second place from the MIL if Kamehameha Maui wins the MIL tournament and Baldwin beats King Kekaulike in tonight’s semifinal.

Fabrao has been a starter for the Warriors since her freshman year. She finished with eight kills, five digs and an ace on Tuesday.

“Going through the last four years of my life, I think it would be such a privilege to finally win MILs,” Fabrao said. “But props to all these teams for pushing us throughout the whole season, throughout my whole career, and I think it would be awesome if we could do it.”

The always-smiling Fabrao was even more excited when asked what it is like to play for Davis, a middle school teacher at Kamehameha Maui who enjoyed a stellar college career at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo from 2013-16. Davis earned her master’s degree from UH-Hilo in 2021.

“Since my sophomore year when she started, she’s been pushing me, and I can’t put into words how grateful I am for her to be my coach,” Fabrao said.

Fabrao hopes to play volleyball in college and then turn professional in the future. First, an MIL championship run and the state tournament, are on her to-do list.

“I have so much confidence in my team and my coaches,” Fabrao said. “The bond that we have this year is amazing, and I can’t thank them enough … I’m super excited.”

Davis said some of the players “made a comment that, ‘Oh, we spend more time with each other than we do with our families during season.’ … they’re like sponges. They soak everything in.They’re coachable. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows the whole year, but it’s definitely about trusting the process for sure, from the coaches to the players.”

Alo dished out 28 assists to go along with one ace and one kill against Na Ali‘i. Sophomore Uʻilani Ahana had 10 kills, one dig, four aces and two blocks, while fellow sophomore Pualililehua Kahaloa had eight kills, a dig and two blocks to help lead the Warriors.

“This win was very, very important for our team,” Alo said. “We just took care of things on our side of the court … the energy on our side was so positive, and just the whole time it never dropped at all … that’s our team.”

———

Baldwin, Lahainaluna football wins clear up MIL division races 

———

Baldwin High School closed in on its first state tournament berth in football since 2019 with a grind-it-out 28-16 win over an undermanned King Kekaulike team on Saturday at King Kekaulike Stadium.

The Bears improved to 3-3 overall in Maui Interscholastic League play, including 1-1 in the second round. Baldwin is already the MIL Division I first-round winner. King Kekaulike, an MIL Division II team, is now 3-4 overall in the league and 1-2 in second-round play.

Na Ali‘i quarterback Kingston Goliday and wide receiver Cason Brooke were among seven King Kekaulike players out of action due to injuries, four of them starters. King Kekaulike turned to its “full house package,” according to coach Tyson Valle, similar to a wishbone formation. 

New King Kekaulike quarterback Kanoa Kuailani took snaps with three running backs surrounding him and it worked well enough for Na Ali‘i to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. King Kekaulike did not throw a pass until late in the game and ran 31 offensive plays to 12 for the Bears in the first half. For the game, King Kekaulike ran 54 plays on offense to 34 for the Bears.

Baldwin backup quarterback Ka’ea’ea Kealoha scored on a 1-yard run and starting quarterback Jordan Carbonell scored on an 11-yard run in the third quarter to give the Bears a 21-10 lead they would not relinquish.

Baldwin can clinch its first trip to the state tournament since 2019 with a victory over winless Maui High on Saturday combined with a win over Lahainaluna (4-2, 2-0) on Oct. 25. 

The Lunas beat Maui High 34-9 on Friday. Maui High (0-7, 0-3) is officially eliminated.

If the Lunas beat Kamehameha Maui (6-0, 2-0) on Friday, Oct. 17 and the Bears lose to Maui High Saturday, Oct. 18, the Lunas and Bears would play for the MIL Division I state berth in a playoff game on Nov. 7 or 8. If the Bears beat Maui High, they can clinch the second round and state berth with a victory in the final game against Lahainaluna on Oct. 25.

The easiest path to a state tournament for any MIL team belongs to Kamehameha Maui, the defending Division II state champions. The Warriors clinch a state berth with wins in either of their final two games, vs. Lahainaluna on Friday or against King Kekaulike on Oct. 24. If Kamehameha Maui loses both games, they would play King Kekaulike for the MIL D-II state berth on Nov. 7 or 8.

“Monday Morning MIL” columns appear weekly on Monday mornings with updates on local sports in the Maui Interscholastic League and elsewhere around Maui County. Please send column ideas — anything having to do with sports in Maui County — as well as results and photos to rob@hjinow.org.